How to Make a Homemade Fishing Hook From Household Items

by Megan Burns

Save money by making homemade fishing hooks.

If you're headed out for a day of impromptu fishing, you may not have the proper supplies. Fortunately this lack of preparedness can be remedied using some inexpensive and widely accessible household items like paper clips. There's no limit to the kinds of materials you can fashion into fishing hooks, so keep an eye out for innovative possibilities. After you've created your simple, inexpensive fishing hook, all you'll have left to do is cross your fingers that the fish are in a biting mood.

1.

Unfold your paper clip to create a flattened "S" shape.

2.

Cut the paper clip in half at the middle of the "S" with a pair of wire cutters. This yields two "U" shapes, each with one side slightly longer than the other.

3.

Bend back the slightly longer end of one of your "U" shapes at a 90-degree angle with the needle-nose pliers.

4.

Twist the bent bit into a circle or eye with the pliers.

5.

Cut off about half of the unbent shorter side of the "U" shape to finish your hook with the wire cutters.

6.

Attach the hook to a lure, or attach it to the fishing line from your fishing pole through the eye you created. Secure it tightly with a knot.

7.

Wrap red or black thread around the head of your hook to make it look more like an insect if desired. This often entices the fish to bite.

Items you will need

Paper clip

Wire cutter

Needle-nose pliers

Fishing pole and fishing line

Red or black thread (optional)

Tip

For other really simple options, re-purpose old costume jewelry earringss into perfectly functional fishing lures. You can also unhinge a large safety pin and attach it to your fishing line as a makeshift hook.

References

About the Author

Megan Burns is a graduate from Denison University in Granville, Ohio, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in political science and Spanish. She has been writing professionally since May 2009 with a Washington, D.C. entertainment blog called Brightest Young Things. Her areas of expertise include music, film and travel.